Yellow Tomb Painting

The Yellow Tomb is located in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 in New Orleans. St. Louis Cemetery was built in 1789, making it one of the oldest in the city. One of the first things you'll see when you visit this cemetery is a bank of "wall vaults." These tombs stack gravesites, filing cabinet style, one above the other.  Many of these vaults house families, like the tomb, featured here. After a body is interred, it is left undisturbed in the grave for a period of one year and one day. At that point, the remains may be pushed to the back of the tomb, leaving room for another body to be interred. In fact, you can see that detail in this piece. It appears that this tomb holds four, with someone recently being added in the upper right-hand corner. That corner has been cut open and re-plastered separately from the other three. Our process of using torn, textured paper adds a three-dimensional element to the piece, accentuating the unique history of this tomb. Paint wash is then applied, creating a